Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 16 · 2026-08-25

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

Your friend has been offered a place on a course at the university where you studied. He/She would like your advice about finding a place to live.

Write an email to your friend. In your email

• describe where you lived when you were a student at the university
• recommend the best way for him/her to look for accommodation
• warn him/her of mistakes students make when choosing accommodation

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your email as follows:

Dear ..........,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Harman,

Hello, hope you find this letter in the pink of your letter. I was absolutely delighted to hear that you have been offered in college where I studied.

So when I was studying in university I was living in apartments which are backside of campus which provide modern facilities.

I will personally recommend same for you for living as it's near to your study place as well as apartments have a lot of technology and modern features like gym, pool and many more.

Most common mistakes students do that they prefer to take house at rent which is much more expensive then these apartments also far away from the university so they have to pay a lot of money for travel.

I hope my advice will find you helpful. Looking forward to see you.

Your Lovingly,

Gurleen Kaur

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all three bullet points: describing your past accommodation, recommending a way to find housing, and warning about common mistakes. However, the response is under the 150-word minimum, which limits the development of your ideas. While the points are addressed, the explanations are quite brief. To improve, you should expand on your personal experience or provide more specific details regarding the 'mistakes' students make. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, but the brevity prevents a higher score.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 6.0

The email is logically organized, with each paragraph addressing a specific part of the prompt. However, the use of cohesive devices is somewhat limited and mechanical. For example, the transition between the recommendation and the warning is abrupt. Using a wider variety of linking words (e.g., 'furthermore', 'consequently', 'on the other hand') would help the flow of ideas. Paragraphing is present, but the overall structure feels a bit disjointed due to the short, simple sentence structures used throughout the text.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.5

The vocabulary is generally adequate for the task, but it lacks variety and precision. You rely on basic descriptors like 'modern facilities' and 'a lot of technology'. There are also some awkward collocations, such as 'offered in college' (should be 'offered a place at the university') and the idiom 'in the pink of your letter' is misused—the correct idiom is 'in the pink of health'. Expanding your range of vocabulary to include more natural collocations would significantly improve your score.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.5

You use a mix of simple and complex sentences, but there are frequent grammatical errors that occasionally impede clarity. For instance, 'apartments which are backside of campus' should be 'apartments at the back of the campus'. There are also issues with prepositions and articles, such as 'take house at rent' instead of 'rent a house'. While the meaning is generally clear, the frequency of these errors prevents a higher band score. Focus on subject-verb agreement and correct preposition usage to improve accuracy.

See this exact question answered at other band scores — the same prompt compared across bands.

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